Geoff Thomas To Attend Selhurst Park On Saturday

Fresh from completing the 3 Tours Challenge, Palace legend Geoff Thomas and his bike will be in attendance at Saturday at Selhurst Park.

Four amateur cyclists led by Geoff Thomas, the former Eagles captain and blood cancer survivor, completed a monumental 10,760km on bikes – in an attempt to raise £1m for Cure Leukaemia.

The team cycled the Giro D’Italia, Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta consecutively, a challenge that only 39 professional cyclists have undertaken.

Thomas, who was giving Vuelta champion Chris Froome tips over text on the next stage as Geoff was a day ahead, was delighted with the backing of the club and its supporters and believes knowing the support the team were receiving back home helped push the cyclists through the pain barrier.

He said, “Without the sponsorship of Steve Parish and Steve Browett, together with his company Farr Vintners, Crystal Palace FC and the Palace for Life Foundation, this event simply would not have happened. Their extraordinary support of our fundraising allowed us to put our bodies on the line to help others and then with the generosity of the public, including many Eagles fans, we’ve raised over £200,000 through donations so far.

“We’ve all doubted whether this event was possible both logistically and physically but even in our darkest moments alone on mountain roads, with only our thoughts for company, we just kept pedalling. Ultimately we knew our pain was temporary and the patients we did this for would do anything to swap places with us."

Geoff and his teammates will be introduced on the pitch during half-time of Saturday’s match against Southampton and earlier in the Fanzone from 11.30am.

Fans can donate to Geoff's fundraising by texting CPFC08 £10 to 70070, via his justgiving page or contribute into bucket collections around the stadium on Saturday.